Lexus Goes Big Rather than Home with New SUV Flagship LX 600

While the Land Cruiser — in the U.S. — may be no longer after this year, the flag is being carried on by its luxury sibling for 2022 new the form of the Lexus LX 600. For anyone concerned about a potential scaled down model, you can exhale because the new model is anything but.

The online debut showed the world that “subtle” will not be part of Lexus lexicon for at least the 2022 model year as the new LX 600, replacing the LX 570, carries on the charge for a more distinctive exterior look with luxury interior appointments that are second to none.

Many longtime aficionados of the big ute expressed concerns about what would become of the last dinosaur, worries about a smaller engine (true), a move away from the traditional body-on-frame platform (false) and less go and all show (false).

Completely designed from the ground up, the new model should calm the nerves of those nervous nellies, but it does beg the question: how come the Land Cruiser had to go?

The cylinder game

The big question mark was what would power the new beast, which had been motivated by a powerful V-8 for the entirety of its existence — it launched in 1995. 

Well, as has been the case for so many other large vehicles, that moment is over with the V-8 replaced by a 3.5-liter twin turbo V-6 gas powerplant. Though smaller, it’s more powerful than its predecessor, putting out 409 horsepower and 479 pound-feet of torque.

All those ponies are handled by the Direct Shift-10AT designed to provide smooth acceleration and plenty of power to handle towing. However, it’s also designed to maximize shifts to keep the ride quiet and gas consumption low … well, lower anyway.

As a reminder while it’s a luxury ute, it’s a go anywhere luxury ute. An oil pan guard is installed to the lower body of the automatic transmission, which has been designed for off-road performance, to help reduce the risk of oil pan damage due to unplanned hits to the underfloor that might occur when conquering rocky roads.